Technologies Amplifies and Changes the Way We Create

Is it “technologies amplifies our ideas and changes the way we create”? Or is it the other way around or both in tandem?

Last week our district came together for Pro-D. Aptly named “District Day”,

it’s a day dedicated to learning and exploring together – meeting and connecting with friends and colleagues from other schools. Certainly it’s a day of “connectedness” where the buzz of excitement is palpable, exploration and new ideas are plentiful and teachers sharing their passions are the norm. While I must admit that this is an exhausting day but one of the most extremely worthwhile days ever! I always come away rejuvenated and filled with possibilities. It’s a sparkly time.

What do the concepts of social emotional (perseverance, resilience, self regulation), curiosity, exploration and problem solving have in common? They are all intricately woven in the fabric of Applied Design, Skills and Technology. At the 6/7 level, we invited lead teachers on the Thursday to experience Coding Quest. At the K-5 level, ADST is meant to be included in the regular curriculum. Inspired by Ian Landy (principal in Shuswap district) who presented at the CUEBC conference, we put together a number of centers focused on developing the mindset skills in ADST. The twist? – incorporating the core competencies of Personal Awareness, Communication and Critical Thinking. Just to give you a flavour, some of the centers were:

Elenco Snap Circuits (electronics from basics to multi-levels)

Keva planks (understand the dynamics of physics and architectural design)

Why centers? We wanted multiple entry points to include something for everyone (a success story waiting to unfold). Each center is designed for active engagement in both the building/making aspect, as well as revealing self regulation, perseverance, resilience… (Personal Awareness Competency). Reflection during and afterwards is key to explicitly connect the maker mindset and language of the competencies (critical thinking, communication, personal awareness) in “I can…” statements.* Click here for all the center instruction cards and information on setup.

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4 thoughts on “Technologies Amplifies and Changes the Way We Create”

Janet, Pro-D sounds like a great way to connect. I love the idea of focusing on mindset skills in your ADST centers – they sound amazing! I’ll be exploring them to learn how you did this. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you so much for leaving your thoughts Carla. We overlook the soft skills when we engage in environments that allows for conversation. Yet these are the skills that are most important and need the connections between the vocabulary and the action or feeling.

This sounds like a super engaging experience Janet. I have that question twisting around in my head. What comes first…I think neither unless we take a step even farther back to see that our school culture (and everyday practices) encourage imagination and creativity. Then we can start pulling at that question! Thanks for sharing. #sunchatblogger

Hi Gillian
So agree. It always comes down to the environment we create. Sometimes though culture is interwoven with the technologies. Without them together, it would be a simple activity. I do believe that technologies done purposefully extends this to another level.